Atheists, do you wish a god existed?

Question

To be immortal? To be rewared for virtuosity? Do you wish there would actually be an ultimate judicial authority in our universe?

I am an atheist, and, personally, I can't help but desire some of the things that my lack of belief inherently rejects.

Answer 1

I guess, but I believe that there is a good place to go after the good people die, same for bad people, they go to a bad place...beliefs in sprits doesn't mean you can't be an Atheist, just not believing in God, that's the only uniting "dogma" to be an Atheist. So if you want to believe in an immortal Spirit, do, if you wanna believe in a place we go to after we die, then do. It won't have an affect on your beliefs one bit (other than that you believe that) But sadly enough, some Atheists will not say the same, they are just like the fundie Christians, as in, believe in what I believe or you're not an Atheist. Don't listen to them.
-EDIT- As for believing in a God, I don't want to...because any god being alive means that he/she/it allows the bad things in life happen, which means that any god(s) need to be rebelled against, not worshipped.

Answer 2

In all probablitiy, most persons, at one time or another, have wished for and longed for some "super sugar daddy", who would know all of their needs and fulfill them, who would love them no matter what they did and always forgive them, who would protect them, give them nice things, etc.
In this and most westernized countries, it probably begins with Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and all of those other imporbable beings who supposedly grant wishes and give one presents.
It is the desire for the "ultimate father figure", not the abusive, dysfunctional one most of us experiecend but the perfect, father knows best, Ward Cleaver, Fred Macmurray kind of image that Hollywood and televion fed us for so long.
Mix this with some fantastic mythological stories, filled with the adventure of floods, angels, talking animals, heros and giants, big battles, the sea parting to let the good guys escape just in the nick of time, and people rising from the dead to eternal happiness where the good guy always wins in the end and you have the common ideal of a god as the same is practiced in the daily lives of most of the "faithful".

Eventually one has to wake up to the realization that this is not real. It is not even plausable. Peter Pan, Frankenstien, Superman, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus and "God" simply aren't real and never were.
Life isn't always fair (or so it appears). Good people don't always win, in fact they often don't even break even. Good deeds often are not rewarded,nor recognized. The persons who seem willing to do anything to get a head usually do at the expense of others. Children die. "**** happens".

Eventually, one has to realize that one has to look within ones self for ones own answers. These answers need to be based on the individuals lived, personal experience and understanding. These answers may or may not be the answers for others as well as ones self,
Based on this understnding, one has to make choices and then live with the responsibilities and consequences of the same (karma).
Hopefuly, each will try to live peacefully, doing as little harm to themselve and all that exist as possible, while being mindfully aware of who they are and what they are doing.

Yes, it would seem that everyone would love for the mythology of the gods to be true, but it isn't.

May it all be well with you.

Answer 3

No. At least not in manner that god was presented to me in church growing up. I'm actually not into to the whole immortality thing. Sounds boring. Also, in life we are often rewarded for virtuous acts. I agree that at times life is unfair and people who deserve to be punished often go free. On the other hand, we've all done things to hurt people and I for one am glad that some big Judge Judy in the sky isn't going to come down on me for every little thing I've ever done but forgot to ask for forgiveness for.

Answer 4

No, not once. The lawfulness of the universe comforts me. I do not need an " ultimate judicial authority " over me. Did not George Orwell write about that in 1984?

Answer 5

Not really. An ultimate judicial authority will be sway by emotions, however, without emotions, the ultimate judicial authority is not fit to judge.

Answer 6

Some years back, I remember lying in bed with my husband, watching television. A program came on about people who were celebration their 100th birthday.
There was a sweet little old lady there who was, that very day, celebrating her 104th birthday...
I remember so well...we were still pretty young, and my husband said to me "Who would want to live to be 104 years old? It sounds horrible!"
I thought about this for a few minutes, and then I answered him, "I dunno, Honey. Tell 'ya what...ask me again when I am 103...and I'll let you know then..."
That got to be a major saying in my family...and still is.
It's easy to think about death when you are very young, and it is at least a half-century away...
But, when you celebrate that half-century mark, you begin to think about things a bit differently.
I hear alot of people here saying that they think immortality would be "boring" or "ghastly" or "horrible" or similar things.
Could it be that they just haven't considered the alternative?
Time will tell!!

(Oh, btw, I am not seriously worried about these things, since I've been a Christian since I was at least 12 years old...)

Answer 7

I also desire some things inherently...that's what gods are made of. But I'm still not sure, intellectually, if a creator or even a non-omnipotent god would be a good thing.

Yahweh, of course, is evil. No struggle with that choice.

Answer 8

A real universe creator would be interesting. None of the deities espoused by the world's religions seem very nice.

Living forever sounds ghastly.

CD

Answer 9

I also wish I could fly like Superman, swim like Aquaman, I love fairies...fairies would be so pretty in my garden, there are a lot of things that would be nice, but are not a part of reality. Just because I wished for them, doesn't mean I would get them by pretending to believe differently.

atheist

Answer 10

Personally I don't like the idea of eternal life. It destroys what life you do have because no experience would be unique. After a while you'd end up thinking that everything was just a repeat of a repeat.